Arson declared in barn fires

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An official says it will cost Ohio less than expected to advertise the three statewide ballot issues in newspapers this fall because of a change in the process.

The Columbus Dispatch (http://bit.ly/pGebhY ) reports the state constitution requires the full ballot issues to be printed in daily newspapers three times ahead of the election.

The chief operating officer at the Secretary of State’s office told a spending oversight panel that the state turned to an affiliate of the Ohio Newspaper Association called AdOhio instead of negotiating with each publication. He says that means distributing the 60-page insert will cost $2.1 million instead of the estimated $4.5 million.

Most of that is for printing the new 300-page law that limits collective bargaining for public workers and is the focus of Issue 2.